Letter: Gun control efforts should focus on certain individuals

Guns should not be banned from society. Specific people should be banned from owning guns.

After the recent tragedy in Sandy Hook where 27 people were massacred by a mentally ill man with a semi-automatic rifle, Vice President Joe Biden and other politicians have been pushing the ban of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, and to expand background checks for those wishing to purchase weapons.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his State of the State address said, “No one hunts with an assault rifle. No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer, and too many innocent people have died already” to push his plan on gun control into action.

The politicians are approaching this issue from the wrong angle. They’re more focused on the types of guns, when they should be in fact focusing on who can access them. The Sandy Hook massacre and the Aurora, Colo., shooting were caused by men who were mentally unstable. Congress needs to pass a law preventing those who are mentally unstable or abuse illegal substances, or ex-convicts from purchasing guns and ammunition to decrease the amount of deaths by guns. It can be accomplished simply by having any potential consumer undergo a thorough background check to ensure he or she is a healthy, responsible citizen.

The government shouldn’t infringe the rights of responsible citizens owning the firearm of their choice when it can do one simple thing: know who is buying the gun.